Apple recently made a significant change with the release of OSX 10.9 Mavericks by introducing their own custom FTDI driver. While this move was likely intended to improve system integration and performance, it inadvertently caused compatibility issues for many users relying on devices that use FTDI chips, such as Arduino boards and USB DMX interfaces. These devices suddenly stopped functioning correctly because the new Apple driver did not fully support the communication protocols these peripherals required. As a result, many developers and hobbyists found their workflows disrupted, with their essential tools no longer recognized or operating as expected.
Fortunately, there is a straightforward way to resolve this problem by disabling Apple’s new FTDI driver and reverting to the previous, more compatible version of the driver. By doing so, you can restore full functionality to your Arduino and USB DMX devices, ensuring that all your related applications work seamlessly again. This guide will walk you through the necessary steps to safely disable the updated driver, reinstall the older FTDI driver, and get your hardware back to working condition — allowing you to continue your projects without interruption.
Compatible with OSX Mavericks 10.9.0, 10.9.1, 10.9.2, and newer versions
Download the FTDI Driver Control App
Begin by downloading the “OS X FTDI Driver Control” application from the provided link. This lightweight utility is specifically designed to help you manage the FTDI driver on your Mac, allowing you to enable or disable the problematic Mavericks native driver quickly.
Extract and Launch the Application
Once the download is complete, locate the zip file in your Downloads folder (or wherever your browser saves files) and extract it by double-clicking. After extraction, open the “OS X FTDI Driver Control” application by double-clicking its icon. You might be prompted with a security warning since it’s a third-party app — if so, click “Open” to proceed.
Check the Driver Status
When the application opens, it will immediately scan your system to check the current status of the FTDI driver. You will see a clear message indicating whether the FTDI driver is currently ENABLED or DISABLED. If it says ENABLED, that means the default Mavericks driver is loaded, which is known to cause issues with Arduino boards and USB DMX interfaces.
Disable the Mavericks FTDI Driver
To fix the compatibility problem, simply click the large button labeled something like “Disable Driver” or “Turn Off Driver” on the app interface. This will instruct your system to unload the Mavericks FTDI driver and revert to using the older, compatible version.
Enter Administrator Credentials
Because changing system drivers requires elevated privileges, the app will prompt you to enter your Mac’s administrator username and password. Type in your credentials carefully and click OK to authorize the change.
Confirmation and Testing
After successfully entering your credentials, the application will disable the Mavericks FTDI driver. The status on the app should now show DISABLED. At this point, restart your DMX or Arduino software and test your hardware — it should now be recognized and functioning as expected.
This fix the OpenDMX alright. But i must share my experience using QLC+ with a Emtec OpenDMX in one USB port and an Arduino in other USB port. I could only use one device with this fix.
Arduino updated their program for the new mac driver, the DMX software did not update their software… so arduino will only work with the new driver and DMX will only work with the old driver. as long as QLC and other DMX software does not update their software, you will always have to switch between drivers.
This fix does not seem to work on Yosemite it seems to disable Apple’s FTDI Driver but new FTDI driver does not work?
haven’t tried on my Yosemite yet, I’ll try and report back to you.
Update:
It still seems to work here
this fix stil seems to work on yosemite developer previews(DP6)..with QLC+
UPDATE : DP7 works just fine
Doesn’t work on the latest Mac OS X Yosemite DP build. Did you find solution to fix it?
havn’t tested on DP8 yet, i’ll test if it’s working on my beta…
Edit:
Stil working on the Golden Master of Yosemite.
Any progress. Yosemite has been a seamless transition except for killing my ability to communicate to all my FTDI devices
Anyone figure out how to get the FTDI chip sets to work on the usbserials for Yosemite? I can see my device and it works enough to see the scrolling command-line-interface of my serial application, however I’m unable to use my keyboard to put any input into the terminal emulator software, regardless of the emulator I’m using “SecureCRT, terminal, etc.”
I thought this would be the one that fixes it but yeah ive got the same issues and search as i might i cant find a solution either for Yosemite
This did the trick for 10.10: http://www.mommosoft.com/blog/2014/10/24/ftdi-chip-and-os-x-10-10/
http://www.mommosoft.com/blog/2014/10/24/ftdi-chip-and-os-x-10-10/
so pretty noob at messing around with mac terminal, does someone want to make a quick youtube video of this?? 🙂
you don’t need the terminal for this guide… just drag & drop the app in your application folder, run the app and click the button.
Hi Steven,
I am a noob at programming and stuff, even with the manual of FTDI i didn’t get my interface working on a mac. The first two steps were doable for me, but i couldn’t copy the file into that library or so. The interface works fine on a windows laptop, but i rather prefer my Macbook.
After i didn’t get any further with the manual of the website of FTDI, i tried this step. But, of course, because i can’t install the driver, my macbook can’t find the driver so this didn’t work either.
What can i do to make this interface working on my macbook?
Kind regard from the Netherlands,
Thijs
Did you try this guide?: http://stevenbreuls.com/2014/03/fix-ftdi-dmx-interface-arduino-on-osx-10-9-mavericks/
Yes, My macbook can’t find the interface. In that application it just says: Status: Serial FTDI driver not found on system.
not sure why that is, you could check “about my mac” and than system… under the USB tab. is there a ftdi device?
Yes there is a ftdi device
It seems to be a problem with QLC+. I was reading your other topic about the ethernet interface and saw something about the ‘JV Lightning DMXcontrol software. With this software, the interface is at least working on OSX.
This is kinda strange :S